New study finds existing coal power costs 3 times less than new wind power

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) has published a first of a kind study on the levelized cost of electricity from existing power plants. Although not discussed as such, the report corroborates concerns that EPA’s Clean Power Plan would significantly increase electricity prices by replacing low-cost existing coal generation with more costly new generation from natural gas and wind. How much more costly? The authors, Tom Stacy and George Taylor, estimate that new natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) costs about twice as much as existing coal and new wind costs about three times as much. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) periodically compares the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of various types of generation sources. EIA defines the LCOE as the per megawatt-hour cost of building and operating a generating plant over its assumed financial life and duty c...